CONCORD, N.C. — Affectionately known as “Tiny Kyle” by the fallen NASCAR Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson will pay big tribute to Kyle Busch at his hometown next month.
Kyle Larson will run a No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet designed like Kyle Busch’s 2007 No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet in the Oct. 4 South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Home to the Busch brothers, Kyle and Kurt, the Oct. 3-4 race weekend in Las Vegas will mark the first time NASCAR has visited the 1.5-mile track since Busch died in May.
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Busch gave Larson the nickname, “Tiny Kyle”, when they raced together in NASCAR. Larson will have that nickname on the driver side’s name rail and Busch’s signature on the passenger side to pay tribute to the two-time Cup Series champion.
HMS is set to produce merchandise with this tribute. A portion of royalties from merchandise sales will support The Samantha and Kyle Busch Bundle of Joy Fund.
Busch raced for Hendrick Motorsports from 2003 to 2007 before he joined Joe Gibbs Racing. Although Busch never formally raced for HMS again, Busch represented Hendrick’s HendrickCars.com brand on several occasions in the 2020s. Notably, HendrickCars.com was the primary sponsor for Busch’s No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado he earned his final win in.
Coincidentally, the scheme Busch raced when he won that NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race is modeled after Larson’s primary Cup scheme and is itself a throwback to Ricky Hendrick, Rick Hendrick’s son and past NASCAR winner who died in 2004.
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Larson’s tribute to Busch isn’t the only tribute planned for a race in the 2026 Chase for the NASCAR Cup Series postseason.
Ty Gibbs is also set to run a scheme at Bristol Motor Speedway throwing back to Kyle Busch’s classic M&Ms scheme he earned most of his 63 Cup wins with. M&Ms is joining on to the tribute, sponsoring Gibbs’ car and pledging to hand out yellow commemorative towels to every person in attendance.
Busch won eight Cup races at Bristol. Before his death, he was the active Cup wins leader, ahead of four-time winner Denny Hamlin. Busch still ranks fifth all-time, behind 12-time winner Darrell Waltrip and nine-time winners Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace and Cale Yarborough.
Bristol will be the third race in the Chase, which Gibbs and Larson are racing in. They rank sixth and seventh in the standings, 39 and 49 points behind leader Denny Hamlin, heading to World Wide Technology Raceway Gateway.
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